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Offline matthew_h

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hunting small game with a .50 ?
« on: May 17, 2010, 09:12:54 PM »
hey guys i have been wanting to try small game hunting with a m/l for a few years now but i just cannot afford one of the 32-36 cal guns . i have heard before of shooting a low powder load of 30-50 grain and a PRB . i am sure head shots are a must so their is still meat left . how crazy an idea would it be to start this fall's squirrel season with my t/c thunder hawk and a 50 grain(pyrodex pellet) PRB load . i really would like to get a smaller bore m/l but i can't afford it .
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Offline Buckskins & Black Powder

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Re: hunting small game with a .50 ?
« Reply #1 on: May 18, 2010, 07:34:54 AM »
sure why not. I'd probably use less than 50 grains of powder. one 50cal flintlock rifle will shoot 20-25gr 3f goex great with patched round ball.
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Offline RB1235

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Re: hunting small game with a .50 ?
« Reply #2 on: May 18, 2010, 11:25:39 AM »
 The boys I hunted with would bark them. Shoot the tree and kill the squirrel with the shrapnel of the bark. I tried it several times with a borrowed rifle, would hit the squirrel half the time and ruin it. None of us could afford a special rifle or shotgun. They were just what ever our families had. The boys that couldn't hit would put a piece of cotton then shot then cotton down the barrel of the rifle. It was good for 25 or 30 yards. Can't remember the calibers. Pretty sure they would have been .45 -.54 they used. Just deer rifles.
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Offline matthew_h

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Re: hunting small game with a .50 ?
« Reply #3 on: May 18, 2010, 01:01:20 PM »
thanks for the info . i have barked a couple with a .22lr . not on purpose thou , i went and picked em up and there was no entry or exit wood , just a dead squirrel i was a bit confused at first  ;D . i don't know if i could do it but i sure think it would be fun to try .i have a inline t/c thunder hawk with 1-38 tiwst that i got for $50 from bubba.50 that i think would work out good for trying this .
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Offline woodchukhntr

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Re: hunting small game with a .50 ?
« Reply #4 on: May 18, 2010, 04:04:06 PM »
Great idea, even a near miss will kill them!  It'll probably just leave a smoking hole with a few small bits of fur around the edges :o  All seriousness aside, it would probably work just fine with 50 gr. or less.
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Offline Rock Home Isle

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Re: hunting small game with a .50 ?
« Reply #5 on: May 18, 2010, 04:59:50 PM »
Quote from: matthew_h on May 17, 2010, 09:12:54 PM
hey guys i have been wanting to try small game hunting with a m/l for a few years now but i just cannot afford one of the 32-36 cal guns . i have heard before of shooting a low powder load of 30-50 grain and a PRB . i am sure head shots are a must so their is still meat left . how crazy an idea would it be to start this fall's squirrel season with my t/c thunder hawk and a 50 grain(pyrodex pellet) PRB load . i really would like to get a smaller bore m/l but i can't afford it .

Manys the time that my deer hunt turned into an impromptue squirrel hunt. I'd just "bark" the 1st one and use reduced powder charges on the rest. I hunted deer elk and small with my .50 cal for years before I finally got a small game calibre rifle, nothing wrong with that at all. Makes you versitile.  8)

Along with the .32 & .36 calibre considerations...you might also consider a slick little .40 cal...such a sweet shooten calibre. I have lived to rue the day that I sold mine. Actually I was in mourning over its loss before it even left the driveway.
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“Lost?? Hmmm... been fearsome confused for a month or two, but I ain't never been lost!”
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Del Gue in "Jeremiah Johnson"

Offline Rock Home Isle

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Re: hunting small game with a .50 ?
« Reply #6 on: May 18, 2010, 05:01:55 PM »
Quote from: RB1235 on May 18, 2010, 11:25:39 AM
The boys I hunted with would bark them. Shoot the tree and kill the squirrel with the shrapnel of the bark. I tried it several times with a borrowed rifle, would hit the squirrel half the time and ruin it. None of us could afford a special rifle or shotgun. They were just what ever our families had. The boys that couldn't hit would put a piece of cotton then shot then cotton down the barrel of the rifle. It was good for 25 or 30 yards. Can't remember the calibers. Pretty sure they would have been .45 -.54 they used. Just deer rifles.

You didn't happen to grow up in Colorado...just down the road from me by chance did you???  :-[
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“Lost?? Hmmm... been fearsome confused for a month or two, but I ain't never been lost!”
Henry Frap the "Mountain Men"

“Ain't this somethin'? I told my pap and mam I was going to be a mountain man; acted like they was gut-shot. Mother Gue said to me; ‘Make your life go here, son. Here's where the people is. Them mountains is for Indians and wild men.’  "Mother Gue", I says "the Rocky Mountains is the marrow of the world," and by God, I was right. Keep your nose in the wind and your eye along the skyline.”
Del Gue in "Jeremiah Johnson"

Offline RB1235

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Re: hunting small game with a .50 ?
« Reply #7 on: May 18, 2010, 08:08:53 PM »
Quote from: Rock Home Isle on May 18, 2010, 05:01:55 PM
Quote from: RB1235 on May 18, 2010, 11:25:39 AM
The boys I hunted with would bark them. Shoot the tree and kill the squirrel with the shrapnel of the bark. I tried it several times with a borrowed rifle, would hit the squirrel half the time and ruin it. None of us could afford a special rifle or shotgun. They were just what ever our families had. The boys that couldn't hit would put a piece of cotton then shot then cotton down the barrel of the rifle. It was good for 25 or 30 yards. Can't remember the calibers. Pretty sure they would have been .45 -.54 they used. Just deer rifles.
No sir, but really in those days most of us could have been neighbors and had the same memories. Today is vastly different from the good ol' days. ;)
You didn't happen to grow up in Colorado...just down the road from me by chance did you???  :-[
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Offline matthew_h

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Re: hunting small game with a .50 ?
« Reply #8 on: May 19, 2010, 03:47:51 PM »
thanks for the info all , i will let ya know if i try it and how it goes .
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Offline luckydawg13

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Re: hunting small game with a .50 ?
« Reply #9 on: May 23, 2010, 02:33:34 AM »
YEP BARK THEM
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Offline matthew_h

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Re: hunting small game with a .50 ?
« Reply #10 on: May 23, 2010, 02:58:03 AM »
thanks guys , here are some pics of the m/l i want to use







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Offline RB1235

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Re: hunting small game with a .50 ?
« Reply #11 on: May 24, 2010, 05:16:20 AM »
That's a dandy. I haven't seen any inlines before that were wood stocked.
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Offline Rock Home Isle

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Re: hunting small game with a .50 ?
« Reply #12 on: May 30, 2010, 04:59:56 PM »
Dang fine looking rifle... 8)
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“Lost?? Hmmm... been fearsome confused for a month or two, but I ain't never been lost!”
Henry Frap the "Mountain Men"

“Ain't this somethin'? I told my pap and mam I was going to be a mountain man; acted like they was gut-shot. Mother Gue said to me; ‘Make your life go here, son. Here's where the people is. Them mountains is for Indians and wild men.’  "Mother Gue", I says "the Rocky Mountains is the marrow of the world," and by God, I was right. Keep your nose in the wind and your eye along the skyline.”
Del Gue in "Jeremiah Johnson"

Offline gooser

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Re: hunting small game with a .50 ?
« Reply #13 on: June 19, 2010, 03:44:27 AM »
I use 35gr 3F powder with a PRB in my TC Hawkin .50cal. Its very accurate to 50 yds, allowing head shots on rabbits and squirrels, but any body hit and you will have instant hamburger.   ;D
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Offline james

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Re: hunting small game with a .50 ?
« Reply #14 on: June 29, 2010, 02:25:40 PM »
I've shot grouse for the pot when elk hunting.  I just aim a little high to miss the breast.  The bullet shoots so slow it doesn't blow up even with 90 gr of powder under a round ball.
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